CHARLES LLOYD

• Reduced mobility

Ocean Trio

The history of jazz in the last century can be traced by following the trail left by Charles Lloyd. Indomitable, visionary and intuitive, this saxophonist, born 85 years ago in Memphis, is a legend of the genre by virtue of his résumé and his talent. He grew up soaking up the blues, gospel and jazz that echoed through the streets of his city: more than once he has said that he could feel the vibrations of the music of Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Howlin’ Wolf or B.B. King. With African, Cherokee and Irish roots, he absorbed all that tradition until he became one of the mainstays of the crossover between bebop and blues, after moving to the West Coast and playing there in clubs with Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry and Charlie Haden. His saxophone can also be heard on some of the records of the Beach Boys, The Doors and Canned Heat when they were in their heyday.

Since the end of the eighties, he has also worked for Manfred Eicher’s emblematic ECM label, the flagship of jazz at its most adventurous. And if he has made his mark in recent times, it is thanks to his trio albums: he is visiting Villanos del Jazz to present for the first time in Spain the album he recorded with pianist Gerald Clayton and guitarist Anthony Wilson, Ocean (2022), the second of his three consecutive albums in this format (the other two featured Bill Frisell, Julian Lage and Thomas Morgan), an entirely new example of his free and inalienable way of understanding music. As Carlos Santana said about him, Charles Lloyd is an international treasure.